I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to lathe chuck devices and, more specifically, to a deep throat chuck jaw system which allows engine lathes to manufacture parts larger than the headstock hole can swallow without the use of any conventional outboard support.
II. Background
The issue of the headstock hole creating limits on the range of a lathe has plagued the machining and manufacturing industries since their inception. Every time a part needs to be manufactured that is too large to fit into the lathe's headstock hole, the options available to manufacture the part are very limited and all have severe drawbacks. Various outboard support devices have been employed to compensate for the lathe's headstock hole size.
The use of a conventional steady rest 1, such as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, reduces the maximum surface feet that a part can be worked. In other words, the part cannot be spun at the correct RPM for efficient machining. The steady rest 1 is large, cumbersome, has numerous moving parts that fail and reduces the work space maneuverability. A steady rest 1 also requires a “true” spot to be machined on the outside diameter of the part which is often not allowed by the customer. Furthermore, production using a steady rest 1 can be slower.
Another device includes a live bell center 4, as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. The use of a live bell center 5 prevents face and inside diameter machine work altogether. A tail stock 3 is shown in line supporting the live bell center 4.
Bored long jaws on a slight taper are sometimes used. However, the bored long jaws are slightly smaller on the outboard end of the jaws and apply more pressure to the outboard end of the part being machined. This practice does not allow for sufficient gripping on the part for efficient machining. It also applies undesirable loads on the lathe chuck.
Another device is a hollow spindle lathe which is very expensive. The hollow spindle lathe is also limited by the size of the headstock hole. The maximum size part that can be machined cannot be larger than the headstock hole. Furthermore, the hollow spindle lathes cannot develop enough RPMs to machine smaller parts efficiently.
There is therefore a need for a system to resolve “the headstock hole” issue by increasing the effective range of parts that can be machined with a deep throat chuck jaw system.